BoxCar

The attic is a compromise usually done to thwart the HOA police. There is one rule for radio overage area -- height. The higher your antenna is above ground the greater the coverage area. There are additional rules about antenna height but, generally, 20 feet above the structure they are mounted on.

It compresses and expands the audio allowing a wider frequency range to be sent/received. Think of it as something as Dolby for radio.

Look at the data sheet on the Meanwell. It specifically states radio as a use so it has all the filtering needed. Pay attention to the maximum ripple and the stated output over temperature and input power range. You won't find a better one anywhere near that price range. (If some other supply has specs that match or come close, you can bet its a repackaged one.)

Neither one. I would put that into this: https://www.trcelectronics.com/View/Mean-Well/ENP-180-12.shtml It's a true commercial power supply that should handle a 50W radio without straining,

LMR covers all terrestrial modes of radio configurations not in a fixed location. FRS, GMRS, Amateur, Business and public safety are just variations of Land Mobile Radio.

Midland builds a good radio but there are limitations to the MXT400 out-of-the-box. GMRS repeaters primarily operate in wideband but Midland radios are narrowband. That means the signal doesn't occupy as much spectrum and sounds softer to a wideband radio. Conversely, a wideband radio sounds louder on narrowband. The other issue with Midland has to do with the tones used to trigger or "wake up" some stations. Some repeaters use one tone on their input and another on output or split tone. Midland doesn't allow this. Thar doesn't mean the Midland radios won't work, just there are some cases where they won't.

This discussion is getting a little monotonous. A fixed station is one of a pair that exchange information between those points only. As a Part 90.20 coordinator we licensed many fixed stations which are primarily used to report such things as water levels on a flood gauge or storage tank, control sprinklers on a golf course and the like. Both points had to be identified on the frequency authorization and commonly were low-power, typically 5 watts or less. The only "fixed stations" carrying multiple types of information are microwave.

If a receiver requires a tone it is to wake the receiver. The receiver will ignore any signals that do not include the tone. You don't necessarily need to put a tone on your receiver as a receiver with no tone specified will unlock for any signal.

Buying new in that price range means you have many to choose from. While having mixed reviews one of the simpler models would be a BTECH UV-25X2 or for GMRS only the GMRS 50X1. Both are on Amazon. You'll need an antenna, I suggest the Laird 450-470 MHz Unity gain and HYS TC-MB90 magnetic mount for a removable mount or an NMO drill through mount. All are on Amazon.

There are several discussions however, for simplicity, GMRS is a wide band service and FRS is narrowband. That means the intelligence doesn't vary as much in narrowband so radios sound softer and sometimes fail to trigger or open wideband repeaters. Midland radios are all narrowband, even on GMRS channels. The other issue is with privacy codes or tones. If a repeater has one tone on transmit and another on receive (split tones) Midland doesn't do allow that.

Suffice it to say, the rule works both ways if the radio is used in a service it isn't certified for, the FCC can come after the user. If the radio is advertised or marketed toward an uncertified use the seller is charged.

The rule applies to the SELLER if the radio is marketed as approved for a class it is not. They skirt the rule by marketing it in approved areas but make it modifiable to operate outside of the approved classes.

One thing that wasn't mentioned. Your local codes may require the penetration to be fire stopped. That may mean you need metal pipe or conduit where you go through the wall. All fire codes require a penetration of an interior firewall be fire stopped.

ASR's are typically near the gate.

Roof rights are granted by the property owner so the tower owners and radio system owners typically lease space from the property. Contacting the building management is the first step. The three key issues will be liability, mounting and power requirements.

Probably the best way to characterize the Midland antennas is they are "peaky." That means they don't have a smooth SWR across their stated bandwidths.

Some of the better antennas for just GMRS are those by Laird. The quarter wave ones are about six inches in length. There are several manufacturers of good antennas that do both VHF and UHF. I use a https://www.talleycom.com/viewProduct?rlProdNum=ANXA450&utm_source=octopart&utm_medium=url&utm_campaign=laid-feed

As to which coax, look them both up and note the loss figures. Calculate the length needed to go from you antenna to your radio and then apply the loss figures. Simple math, but you want the cable with the least loss as it means more power to the antenna. For the most part, you can ignore the connectors and their loss.

As a follow-up, you need radios you can field program as well. Whomever is acting as your communications coordinator needs to have the software to program the radios and a chart listing which channels are to be used. Those operating on FRS only need the GMRS channels disabled while those having licenses need to know what GMRS channels are used as well as the FRS. If you are using MURS, then the channel usage charts are easier with one channel for group, one for trail bosses.

I just checked this one: https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us

Perhaps a better idea of a "fixed" station would be one station connected to a sensor that when tripped radios a signal to another station to flip a switch on or off.

And your electric energy source is????

The best answer is depends. Higher power doesn't always mean better coverage/distance. One of the biggest problems with FRS is the antenna on the individual radio. You can't change it to use a better/longer one. The radio and its antenna are fixed by FCC rule. Your better choice is GMRS radios with mag mount antennas. Those not licensed for GMRS would be restricted to the FRS channels. Their using GMRS capable radios is a grey area because GMRS radios do have more output power on FRS channels and removeable antennas. The other option is MURS, a VHF service limited to 2W but because its lower frequency it will have a marginally better range than the UHF GMRS/FRS units.

Thanks for the correction. However, the documentation provided by Midland on this radio state everything is preprogrammed with no mention of the ability to modify the factory presets.